David Oliver: What has the pandemic taught us about using frailty scales?

Oliver, David

In particular, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s rapid guidelines on covid-19 critical care in adults, issued at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, had to be revised and updated when advocacy groups raised concerns about using the CFS to withhold care from some patients.6 Clearly, frailty does have great relevance to health service use, healthcare outcomes, and design of services. [...]in over 75s registered with NHS practices, severe frailty as defined by an electronic frailty index is associated with far higher risk of hospital admission, death, or care home admission in the following 12 months.7 People with frailty have less functional reserve and are far more likely (with or without covid-19) to present with immobility, falls, confusion, or generalised failure to thrive, or to get stranded in hospital or experience acute loss of function.89 Those in care homes, or who have dementia or are receiving home care or post-acute rehabilitation, will often be frailer and older.10 These groups are all at high risk from covid-19. Association between Clinical Frailty Scale score and hospital mortality in adult patients with covid-19 (COMET): an international, multicentre, retrospective, observational cohort study.